The Attention Part 7 - Short Story (Final Part)

Vespera would like to rest in her chambers for the day. After the obliteration of her rival's primary fleet, and arguably the Imperial Crusade that is on her tail and the incoming Ork horde that would drown all the worlds ripe for conquest she 'inherited' the Kabal of the Turbulent Star overnight and took over all their spaceports and stronghold, in essence growing her Kabal twofold. But alas, she will not have her due rest. As she enters her chambers , a dark presence greets her. She did not immediately call for her Kabalites, but instead she activates the runes to activate the lights. Illuminated by the chamber's lights, Lord Ranisold is now right in front and Vespera could only wonder how he is alive, and that is before she noticed that he is in her room.

So far from her sources, the fleets are all but obliterated when one of the Imperial battleships detonated its warpdrive and caused a warp storm and engulf everything within. A warp storm engulfs everything, and surely there will not be a single part of his body available for his regeneration. How did he do it? She does know the answer to the question, but alas she is waiting for the answer to escape the lips of the Archon.

"A portable Webway portal is always handy especially when you are in a dastardly bad situation." The Archon speaks as if to answer Vespera's inner thoughts.

"I see...so why are you in my private chambers Lord Ranisold? Do you want to exact your revenge on me?"
" I could, but unfortunately I have the feeling that I was led into the chambers rather than sneaking in. You must have something planned."
"Indeed. I did let you in or else you will die a painful death."
Vespera's every step echoes with a certainty and grace of a sabrecat towards her bar of concoctions from across the galaxy. She then pours a glass of a concoction of some kind for both herself and her guest and walks towards the Archon, her movement as enticing as it is dangerous. 

"No worries Milord, it is not poisoned. I would not want to poison myself do I?" As the Archon takes the glass, he could smell that this particular concoction is not particular to the Dark Eldar distillery, but something else entirely. As she sits down upon her bed and crossed her legs, Ranisold could only wonder what is this woman up to.

"Tanith sacra would be the name of the drink. A particularly rare alcoholic drink, as the wold that produce it is no more. "

"So is this a way of saying that I am but a ghost?" The Archon sips the liquor and let the unique taste of the drink linger around his mouth before he swallows.

"A mon-keigh drink, but one that I grew to like."

" What are you suggesting here?"

"Well...I need a person who knows how to commands the fleets. So far none of my own people are capable."

"What about elements of my Kabal that you forced into servitude?"

"None are particularly bright and their experience with coordinating planetary invasions and fleet actions at once is nothing less than pathetic."

"And that is why you are entertaining me?"

"Yes, I know an space-bound Archon like you know best about these kinds of things. Indeed, I quite safely assume that you would meet me somehow after that incident." Vespera is playing around with the Archon, trying to inflict as much pain as possible with every word. She takes off her helm, and as her pale beauty reveals itself she gives the Archon a smile. All she needs for the Archon to do is to get the point of why she is still keeping him alive.

"Inyon lama-quanon." The Archon answered.

"Yes, I want to dominate. It may be or may be not what you want to do to me, but I know what I want. All I ask is for you to kneel.If you don't it is fine by me but...", Vespera takes out a locket and activates the rune on it, "you will find out soon enough what will happen if you don't." 

The Archon did not understand the significance of the pendant, but when he tries to speak, his mouth fails to move. Realizing what she had done to him, he could only look at her with venom in his eye. Vespera could only agree more with him. A creation of her private Haemonculi, the pendant allow one to jam any kind of electrical signals, from the shadowfields to the neurons in the brain. Of course she asked that the calibration is enough for a person to be fully paralyzed rather than stopping the life functions of a person. And before long, Lord Ranisold starts to kneel down as his legs buckled under his body weight.

"So I would take that as a yes." Vespera could only kneel down beside him and whisper to his ear.

"Now you will have my undying attention....." And Vespera chuckled, with the Dark City as the witness of this dark pledge.